Late last week, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. announced that the study guide ‘Zionism Unsettled’ will no longer be sold on its website. This is welcome news.
Rather than promote an understanding of Zionism, as one would expect from a text purporting to be a study guide on the subject, the guide is an outright attack on the political movement for the establishment and support of a national home for the Jewish people within the land of Israel. It offensively intimates that Zionism is racist, pathological and the very root of the conflict.
The PC(USA) did the right thing dissociating itself from this publication and is now removing it from its website.
We disagree with the Church’s recent resolution to divest funds from US corporations that do business with Israeli security services in the West Bank. We don’t believe divestment will bring the parties together — a necessary step to resolving this conflict. At the same time, in light of language by PC(USA) distancing itself from the Global BDS Movement, and the removal of ‘Zionism Unsettled,’ we believe the Church has made clear its intention to protest the occupation, not Israel.
We hope others in our community will note the change positively and that, despite our disagreement on divestment, our respective communities can find ways to work together toward the shared goals of peace and security for all people in the region.